Sunburn finds a new home?
Why has Sunburn chosen to move, a scandal in a teacup, a rainy forecast for Christmas and more in this week's edition.
Hi folks,
Greetings from what's been a warm and stuffy week in Goa, and the news is that the forecast isn’t looking good for the rest of the month either. That said, it’s been an eventful week in Goa with the state celebrating the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a former sarpanch being attacked in what is alleged to be a political hit job, the assailants of the Anjuna gram sabha attack were arrested eleven days after the incident, and Sunburn finally seems to have found a venue for this year’s event.
Sunburn finds a new home?
Sunburn 2024 is going to be held in Dhargalim—off the NH 66 highway and on a plot of land that belongs to the Deltin Group not far from where the Mopa airport link road joins the national highway.
Sure, you might want to argue that Sunburn has, so far, much to the chagrin of a large section of locals, only received a provisional NOC from the local village panchayat and is yet to be granted any permissions whatsoever from the Goa government, amid mixed feelings among the locals towards the event but let’s be frank. We’ve all seen this movie before.
There will be a bit of back and forth, a bit of song and dance, petitions will be filed, permissions will be delayed and challenged, but ultimately the festival will go ahead.
So let’s then focus our attention on actual questions like why did Sunburn move out of Anjuna and why has it chosen Dhargal as the venue? Will fans like the new venue and more.
The real reasons will, of course, only be known to the organisers, and given that they are unlikely to speak about internal decision-making in public, all we can do is speculate.
With that in mind, here are some possible reasons for the shift.
Making it a bigger?
When Sunburn first launched in Goa back in 2007, it was initially held at Candolim on a plot of land belonging to the Nunes family (Nunes Travels) by the beach in Candolim. However, in 2013, when rival Viacom18 decided to launch “Vh1 Supersonic,” a year-ender music festival in Goa to rival Sunburn, and secured a partnership with the Candolim landowners, Sunburn was forced to move to Anjuna-Vagator. At the time it was thought to be disadvantageous but turned out to be a blessing in disguise (for the organisers, not the villagers), as it allowed the festival to get bigger with more land available for parking, etc., as opposed to the narrow lanes of Candolim, have more stages draw larger crowds, etc.
But thanks to constant bickering with the government over unpaid dues, etc., in 2017, the festival moved out of Goa to Pune, where it was held for three years only to return in 2019. “Given the opportunity, everyone would love to hold their festival in Goa” was the organiser's refrain back then.
After the pandemic, festivals were held in 2022 and 2023 at Anjuna-Vagator before the decision to hold it this year in Dhargal.
In 2022 itself, questions began to be asked about the noise pollution levels at Sunburn that were being ‘breached’ during the festival. The High Court even directed that no sound be played beyond 55 dB at the venue. Which, as we discussed last week, is the sound level of a normal conversation between two or more people and, as such, is impossible to comply with, even without any amplified music and especially at a crowded venue with vehicles, crowds of people, and, of course, a myriad cacophony of sounds (a single barking dog is between 80 and 90 dB).
The following year, the organisers gave a list of measures they would take to ensure that the sound levels are maintained to the satisfaction of the authorities.
Perhaps these restrictive conditions then prompted the organisers to scout for other locations—possibly those with fewer habitations around.
Work on the Dhargalim site is already underway, but the question that now is the one that Michael Lobo asked—will Dhargal have the same vibe as Anjuna-Vagator, and will the demand for free passes from local karyakartas hold if it shifts to Dhargal? These are the real questions that hopefully we will get answers for in the days and weeks to come.
Gaining a foothold in Dhargal
If you’ve been following the trends, Dhargal is the next big thing in Goa. In the wake of the new Mopa international airport becoming operational, Dhargal, or Dhargalim, once a sleepy, sparsely populated village is expected to be slammed right in the face with development.
For starters, the village will likely see the construction of the Deltin Township project, a 90-acre project including three hotels, a convention centre, a multiplex, a water park, and possibly a casino that could put Bhutani’s Acqua Eden Goa to shame. While there are some doubts over whether the project will see the light of day, it has already received an EC last year, leaving it up to the promoters to decide whether they want to go ahead with it or not.
Not to forget that the GMR Group has been given 232 acres for city-side development of the Mopa airport and has plans for hotels, gaming zones, etc.
To that extent, Sunburn moving to Dhargal not only gives it a first mover advantage and helps establish a foothold, but also allows it the freedom of a bigger venue and possibly fewer neighbours to worry about.
To oppose or not to oppose?
There is one final question that needs to be addressed. Should we be opposing Sunburn and events like Sunburn in Goa? The way I see it, the opponents have two main arguments—the legal argument and the moral argument. The legal argument essentially argues that the festival is a repeat violator of several norms, including—mainly—sound pollution norms, has not paid its dues to the Goa government and its agencies, and is being held in a manner and location that is unconducive for large events.
The moral argument, which is the louder of the two, argues that the festival promotes vices like drugs, hedonism, corruption of youth, etc., and was cited as the primary ground for opposition as villages across Goa rejected proposals to host the festival.
A moral argument cannot be enforced; besides, there’s no denying that the festival brings tourists by the hundred into the state and is supported by industry bodies, which leaves only the legal argument.
In moving to Dhargal, Sunburn is hopeful of leaving its legal hurdles behind, and that perhaps is the real reason why they are there.
Attack on Mandrem panch
A former sarpanch of Mandrem was attacked allegedly by six people who were arrested from Karwar on Friday. While the motive of the attack is still unclear, the attackers allegedly yelled, “Tuka Michael zai?” (Do you want Michael?) while he was being attacked.
This, for those unaware, was in reference to former minister and BJP MLA Michael Lobo’s plan of expanding his sphere of influence to the Pernem coastal belt—currently the turf held by MGP leader Jit Arolkar—possibly with a view of contesting elections or fielding a candidate there.
Arolkar has obviously denied any role in the attack, but that hasn’t stopped Lobo and Dayanand Sopte, a former minister and another of Arolkar’s foes, from accusing him of orchestrating the attack in a bid to deny his rivals a foothold in the constituency.
The attackers have since gotten bail (within a day of their arrest), but the larger turf war (assuming it is one, and not just a red herring) is expected to continue.
Sex and eyeballs
Tongues began wagging after the Goa Police revealed that they had booked and arrested a known acquaintance of a sitting Goa MLA for allegedly morphing a video clip of the MLA, that he recorded during a video call, with indecent clips from the internet and threatened to circulate it online.
Despite the accused being arrested, the video allegedly made its way online and the BJP in a hurriedly called press conference questioned by the MLA in question would pay any money to the extortionist and demanded the resignation of the MLA in question, which is a bit rich coming from a party that has in its ranks a former minister and deputy chief minister who claimed his phone was hacked after he circulated a porn clip in a women’s WhatsApp group and another former minister who was dropped from the cabinet and lost his re-election bid after he was accused of sexually exploiting a woman.
A force for the high and mighty
The Goa Police have once again proved that they are a force not so much for the common folk, or even their own, but one that especially serves the high and mighty.
Case in point is this story in the Goan Everyday, which has reported that cops at the Anjuna Police Station have been transferred after they booked a group of ‘influential’ (read as relatives of an IPS officer) who were not only riding without helmets but also triple seating on a two-wheeler.
It appears that the police higher-ups in Goa have not learnt any lessons despite incidents like that of the DGP’s interference in the eviction and demolition of the Assagao home of Pooja Sharma or the cop who was transferred for refusing to provide a police escort to an IAS officer who was off to a private dinner on the weekend.
Rain for Christmas?
Over the past few years Goa has had its fair share of unusual weather. In fact, 2021 was one such year in which it rained every single month. 2024 appears to be another such unusual year after receiving 47% more rainfall than average between June and September. It hasn't seemed to have stopped raining since then, with intense spells recorded every month since then.
December, usually dry and nippy, has proven no different. After beginning on a positive note with minimum temperatures dropping to 19°C in the first few days, things turned warm and humid quite rapidly after cyclone Fenegal barreled across peninsular India, bringing heavy rains to the southern states and light to moderate rain to Goa.
But the bad news is that one and possibly two more cyclones are on their way, expected to follow a similar trajectory, meaning not only could we have warm weather and rain for Christmas (something that I’ve never heard of in my lifetime) but that weddings, outdoor parties, and festivals will all have to feel the thunder.
That’s all I have for you this week. Hope you enjoyed reading this week’s edition. Make sure you interact, comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say.
As always, please share and help spread the word.
Until next week, then. Tchau!
It's the usual ploy of the govt to cause a delay till the 11th hour so that it increases their bargaining power. More the delay, more the money in their pockets. As for the organisers having the event in Goan means they have fewer vultures to feed.
What no Goan is asking for is a well thought out event management policy, guidelines and rules for this state. This would help boost positive tourism as well as stabilize the uncertainty of the business (ease fo doing business). Every civilized Tourism destination has a robust event plan and policy. Why not Goa?